They’ve seen goalie Tim Thomas bounce back from a few weak goals to the point where he has stolen a game for them.

The top line of Milan Lucic, David Krejci and Nathan Horton finally scored as a unit, breaking a slump to win Game 5 in double overtime. Prior to that, the secondary scoring that can be critical during playoffs came through, when the third line (Rich Peverley, Chris Kelly and Michael Ryder) and defenseman Andrew Ference scored in a 5-4, OT win in Game 4.

Still missing, as the series with the Canadiens moves to Game 6 on Tuesday night: A power play goal for the Boston Bruins.

“Somehow, we have to find a way to overcome that,” coach Claude Julien said on Sunday, the morning after his team went 0-for-3 in Game 5 to fall to 0-for-15 during manpower advantages for the series. “You hope it’s going to happen soon.”

Julien and his staff have changed Boston’s power-play groups since the series began. Horton, who had stayed with his even-strength linemates during 5-on-4 situations, was removed from the top group in favor of center Patrice Bergeron, who had been manning the left point on the second power-play unit. That No. 2 group of forwards is currently made up of Peverley, Ryder and Mark Recchi, backed at the points by Dennis Seidenberg and Johnny Boychuk; Tomas Kaberle and Zdeno Chara play at the points with the first unit.

“We changed the personnel a little bit,” Julien said, “and tried to overload one of our power plays and keep it out there a little longer.

“I’m not going to stand here and lie and pretend it’s not an issue. It is an issue, and I think the players know it’s an issue.”

Doubting Tomas? One oft-cited cause for the power play’s woes has been the play of defenseman Tomas Kaberle, whose offensive talents were the primary reason Boston obtained him from Toronto in a mid-February trade. Kaberle contributed only three power-play points (all assists) in 24 regular-season games as a Bruin, though, and his only points in this series are a pair of even-strength assists.

“I’d like to help with every little thing I can do on the ice,” Kaberle said. “Obviously, I’m one of the guys on the power play, and it would be nice to get something going there.”

Kaberle’s ice time has been reduced as a result of wholesale changes Julien made to his defense pairs, effective with Game 3. Previously teamed with Seidenberg on the No. 2 pairing, Kaberle is now on the No. 3 pairing with rookie Adam McQuaid. After logging 28 minutes, 4 seconds in Game 2 – the game Chara couldn’t play because of dehydration – Kaberle’s ice-time figures have been 16:08, 15:01 and, in Saturday’s 99-minute marathon, a relatively modest 21:10.

Page 2 of 2 - The 33-year-old veteran says he isn’t discouraged, though, and is enjoying his first playoff experience since 2004.

“For the first couple games, I could have been better,” he said. “The last few games, I’ve felt a lot better. I’m feeling better, confidence-wise. Let’s take it from there.”

Long road back: Rookie defenseman Steven Kampfer, who sustained a knee injury during a minor-league assignment to Providence on the final weekend of the regular season, seems to be taking slightly longer to heal than first hoped. General manager Peter Chiarelli, in a conference call two weeks ago, admitted he didn’t have “an exact time frame” for how long Kampfer would be out, “but I know it’s at least two weeks.” On Sunday, Julien said Kampfer hasn’t started skating yet. “I think he’s still getting treatments,” the coach said. “We hope he’s going to be back skating within a week to 10 days.”